After winning this seat five consecutive times from 1952, the Congress tasted defeat for the first time at the hands of the BLD candidate in 1977, by the name of Murli Manohar Joshi. Harish C Rawat of the Congress took it back in 1980, defeating Dr Joshi who was the JP candidate this time. In 1984, which Dr Joshi contested as the BJP candidate, Rawat retained the seat in 1989, but lost to the BJP's Jeewan in 1991. In 1996, the BJP's Bachi Singh Rawat retained it for his party, and H C Rawat came second, losing by 57,000 votes.